Former member. Nuff said; no further comment.
I remember those days well!
Here's my CPA story:
I joined in 2002 shortly after I bought my 172. It was a happenin' place back then. Three full time techs on staff, they'd answer questions on the forum, John was holding seminars all across the US both on rigging and model specific systems, etc. Many professional (A&Ps) were also members because they could call in to the tech staff and discuss particularly challenging issues on customers' planes.
I bought my 182 in 2004. By the time I completed the restoration and began regularly flying it, it was early 2005. By this time CPA had become the CAA (Cessna Autopilots Association). John had lost a tech or two and didn't replace them (including Adam Halop who was a champ). He was no longer having seminars (I begged John for two years to hold a 182 systems seminar...that begging fell on deaf ears). The techs quit answering questions on the forum (thank god for the likes of Stan Cooper, Jerry Ruossos (sp?), Norm, the boys in Ada, other A&P members, etc. who picked up the slack when the CPA staff went MIA on the forums...all these members were all very knowledgeable and giving).
Also, the A&Ps were reporting that CPA technical staff was longer assisting them....they could no longer call in to discuss challenges. And the funniest...or saddest...change, most magazine articles of this era were being written by members instead of the staff.
It had truly become an organization that was nothing more than a medium for members to exchange information and ceased being an organization that provided support with hired hands.
It was about that time when the big exodus to CPS occurred led by Fred Johnson who set up the board. And that's when JF started locking people out of his website (even though he would deny it when confronted..."you must be having problems with your computer" he would say). Todd (where's Fred?) Covey, Fred Johnson, and others were locked out. I let my membership expire in late '06 or early '07.
Fred Johnson started organizing seminars with Adam Halop who was no longer employed by CPA and hadn't been for a while. John threatened Fred with a lawsuit if he had any seminars. John had put his entire organization on hiatus and quit having seminars...but, by god, no one else could have them either...
So, those of us wanting to learn more about our planes were stuck in limbo.
Fast forward to last month...and I rejoined. Only because I lost my "tech notes" database during one of the numerous computer upgrades since I left. I try to do one "extra" for my plane each year at annual and this year it's reskin the flaps and re-rig. I wanted to re-read "rigging the key to speed" before diving into the project and have it as reference during the project, so I thought $55 was well worth getting it back.
I mined all the data off of their site that I needed, put it on CD this time, stored it in the safe deposit box along with my plane's CD logbooks, and I probably won't visit there again.
I looked around and it doesn't appear as if they've taken steps to become a true service organization again...so I don't think I'll have much use for them.
Oh, and then there's the whole controversy surrounding the 400 series wing spar AD. Word on the street is that John Frank and Mike Busch claimed a bunch of other people's research as their own. This story came to me from the man who did (or at least claims to have done) much of that research. This isn't first hand knowledge but I know the aggrieved party well and have no reason to doubt the accuracy of what he told me.
